Buying insurance for my bike is a question hanging over my head for a few months now. The old policy expired around march and for various reasons I have not bought a new policy. Factoring in a 10% depreciation over the last years value owing to wear and tear, the annual premium would come to around Rs. 1100. More than the amount, I have not been able to convince myself of its need. Ofcourse if I get caught on the roads on that bike, I will be fined for not currently being covered.
Insurance is a science with its origins in human psychology, it is a materialistic method of dealing with uncertainty as opposed to the spiritual method - religion. In this regard insurance today is a powerful force leading people away from simply having "faith". Instead of ignoring its corrosive effect on religion like most other religions do, Islam is one faith that deals with this threat to belief with tact. Therefore Sharia law permits "Takaful" as form of basic insurance. This provision is useful in circumventing the contradiction between a benevolent God's omnipotence and human effort to mitigate perceived uncertainties. Yet the primary form of insurance that Islam prescribes is the goodwill of fellow believers.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" - Hebrews 11:1, The Bible
Insurance is an area where psychology, statistics, marketing, finance and economics converge, perhaps even a bit of metaphysics. But the pessimistic, morbid and cold approach insurance adopts towards its subjects is what puts off most people from trying to understand its need. The statistics behind life insurance is the use of actuarial tables which ascertain the probability of the subject's demise before his next birthday, hardly a cause for cheer. Therefore according to the World Health Organisation's actuarial tables for 2006 in India for a 24 year old male, there is a 1.3% chance that I would not make it to the age of 29 (assuming average health).
Coming back to my bike, my reasons for not buying insurance are more mundane. Firstly, the risk of theft. For this threat, I have a simple safeguard mechanism - my dog. Blacky guards and sometimes even chews on parts of the bike as it would a toy and hence I am assured of the bike's safety. Next, damages - with the kind of policies that are on offer for motorcycles, it is practically impossible to get insurance to pay for damages to the vehicle. It becomes too tedious and the amount paid up is paltry. Third party coverage - with the decreased use and shorter trips that I take these days on the bike, third party involvement is a remote possibility. Hence the only good reason for me to get auto insurance is that the law requires me to do so if I plan to use public roads.
More reading:
1. http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/MotorVehiclesAct/S146.htm
2. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Excerpt_from_CDC_2003_Table_1.png
3. http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l264-Third-Party-Insurance.html
4. http://www.slowpokecomics.com/strips/insuranceinsurance.html
1. http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/MotorVehiclesAct/S146.htm
2. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Excerpt_from_CDC_2003_Table_1.png
3. http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l264-Third-Party-Insurance.html
4. http://www.slowpokecomics.com/strips/insuranceinsurance.html
2 comments:
Great idea to compare Insurance and Religion. One difference I see is that Insurance pays back however little or more in the same currency that we pay, but Religion pays back in many different ways known only to God (We may not even realise that we have been repaid already!).
Anyway, about your bike insurance, I think you should get the third party done. Its good for you and the person you may accidentally kill or cripple for life. The fine you pay for not getting insured could exceed your insurance premium.
I guess Insurance is like a secular prayer..and yes, I will get 3rd party done before I kill.
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